Flying machine



. 1,562,663 w. J. H. STRoNG FLYING MACHINE Filed July 2R18 3 sheets-sheet 1 Nov.. 24 1925- Nov. 24, 1925.

w. J. H. STRONG FLYING MACHINE Filed July 22,1918

Sheets-Sheet 2 1|! IIIII-.. III-:

0 .Hnnubwnng @I HHIIJH... "TUIN" "lll IL-.lul V ...LLTII l IIIIIIIIIIIII/ f ...IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII r r I`I .Iltmfllllllllnlll I. IIIII Il Il. IIIHMMINIUHHUUPIIIIHIIIIHF IIIIIII Nov.v 24 1925. 1,562,663 W. J. H. STRCNG FLYING MACHINE 3 Sheds-Sheet 5 Filed July 22. 1918 "UNITED .-s'ra'rlzsA PATENT orlllce.

" WILLIAM .1. H. STRONG, or cnrcncdnmuoia FLYING MACHINE.

Application led J'uly 22, 1918. ',Serlal No. 2415,979.l

tmachines such as airplanes and the like,

which are adapted to be"usedl inv amedif um of varying densitysuch as air at various altitudes.

Such machines as airplanes, dirigibleJ balloons and the like are usually propelled by some motive power, such as an internal combustion engine or a steam en ine which derives its power from the com ustion lof' suitable fuel oil as gasoline or kerosene. The combustion of the oil or other suitable fuelZ requires oxygen and the usual source of the oxygen is the atmosphere in which the device is situated.

.It is well known that the pressure and hence the density of the air reduces as the altitude increases until at substantially 15000 ft. above the sea level the air pressure is about 7 lbs. per sq. inch instead of nearly 15 lbs. per sq. inch at the sea level and in consequence the oxygen content per cubic foot of such rarefied air is about one-half that at sea level. In consequence of this reduction in the oxygen content, the combustion devices, viz: carburetors or oil burners, etc., are not Worked to their maximum efficiency, for this maximum etliciency is usually arranged for normal sea level pressure. the result being that the power plant oi' the flying machine falls very much below its possible maximum capacity and furthermore various adjustments have to be provided for, tocompensate as to the fuel feed for this reduction in oxygen.

A further difficulty arises in regard to the operator of the machine, if he is subject to this great reduction in the oxygen in the atmosphere, his breathing becomes diiicult and labored and many ill eliects result therefrom. Furthermore, at the high altitudes to which such machines are driven, at times, the cold is so ,intense that not lonly is theoperator subjected to great inconveniences but when such extremely cold air is made use of 1n the development of power a great loss ot eiiclency occurs.

nated, the power By means ot myinvention, all of the` above diii-culties and many others are elimiplant is runat highest etclency at all altitudes, the operator is given a fixed sea level pressure of, atmosphere to'bre'athe, and he is protected from the extremely low temperatures experienced" at high altitudes.

I produce all of/these beneficial results i by providing a substantially air-tight Acompartment for the operator, maintaining the air pressure in this compartment' substantially constant at sea-level, pressure, either by the movement of the machine through the air at "h ighspeed or by the use of an air pum Idriven by the engine which drives vthe mac ine, or by a combination of both o f these sources of pressure.- I draw the air for the power plant from this'constant pressure compartment, and I maintain the compartment heated to a' desired temperature, say 60 F., by the exhaust'A from the' engine or other suitable source of heat.'

Another feature of my invention resides in the automatic control of the air pressure in the compartment by means of pressure controlled valves whereby any excess of pressure is reduced by permittingthe escape from the compartment of vsome of the contained air, or by an automatic pres# sure control of the pump by which the pressure is maintained thus in one case preventing a rise of pressure above a predetermined point by allowing some of the air to escape, and in the other positively controlling the production of the pressure.

The beneficial results of my invention not only relate to the convenience of the opchine, and I am enabled to cause a production of maximum powerat maximum ef iciency at practically all altitudes- My invention will be more readily under'- stood by reference to 'the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which I have illustrated sev.- eral ways in which the beneficial results described can b'e practically attained. i

In said drawings: I.

Figure 1 is a `fragmentary sideelevation of an airplane illustrating one embodiment of my invention;

erator of the machine, but alsoto the power production of the power plant of the ma- Figure 2 is a similar view illustrating another embodiment of my invention; and' i Aanother form yin whichi machine show is an airplane ora heavier- Cil.

any, and the various contro .plant for rotating'the driving the machine.

than-air machine.l

The cabin is an air-tight compartment except as to such conduits and.- openings as I provide'for the purpose of controlling the air pressure therein. The cabin is adapted to house the operator and the ,1passengers, if devices for properly operating the machine. The forward part-2 of the fuselage Vhouses the power propeller 3 when In the 'form illustrated the power plant comprises a steam generatory 4 having oil burners 5 and a steam engine 6 for generating the power-from 'the steam. It should be understood that the .power plant is merely typical and might consist of the usual iiiternal combustion engine witliits carburetor for use of fuel oil.

TheA machine is ada ted-to be propelled through the air in a orward direction, asy indicated by the arrow in Figure 1, and l provide the forward end of the fuselage with air inlet openings 7 adaptedto deliver air into a conduit 8 within the fuselage. In the form shown in Figure 1 I'deliver the incoming air, which enters at more or less pressure, depending on the speed of the machine, to an air compressor 10 adapted to be suitably driven bythe engine 6 by gears 1l and 12. The compressed air delivered by the pump or compressor 10 is directed through a conduit 13 into the cabin which it enters at the ceiling through the distributing opening 14. By means of this delivery of- Aair in the cabin, I am enabled to maintain the air pressure in the cabin at or about the ordinary sea-'level pressure.`

`I provide means to prevent anexcess of, pressure which, as shown in Figure 1, con- .sists of an outlet valve 15 arranged, in this instance, in the floor of the cabin. When thcmachine is at any appreciable elevation above the sea-level the contained air will. escape when the valve 15 opens due to the higher pressure within the cabin than that of the surrounding atmosphere. I control the valve 15 bv means of a pressure vcontrolledgdevice 16 consisting of asealed bellows, oflexible material, such as thin slieet metal, adapted to be collapsed by an increase of pressure in the sur/rounding air and to be expanded by the pressure within the bellows upon a decrease of the surroundingr pressure. The device 16 is connected to the valve 15 by a' link 17 which is connected to the free end of an arm 18 rigid with the upon an increase of surroundin a of 'the surrounding ressure below a certain 'point the device w1 1 `close the valve, and

pressure ove a fixed valves I provide. a blower 19 which may be run by power derived from the power plant in any suitablemanner and is adapted to deliver air to the burners 5 for generatin the power for running tlie machine. The inlet 2O ofthe blower 19 opens directly into the point the devicelwi `open .the

cabin 1 and the blower draws its supply of air from the air in the cabin, which I maintain at a constant pressure, preferably sealevel pressure.

I arrange one or more coils of'pipe 21 iii the cabin connected with the exhaust 22 of the engine and through which the exhaust can circulate and heat the cabin. l also provide a valve. 23 controlling the heating coils so that the operator can prevent the cabin becoming too hot. .The control of the temperature of the cabin can also be regulated by any of the well known tliermostatic control devices.

At 24 I have illustrated tlie escape pipe for the gases o combustion from the steam generator, and it should be understood that I can readily arrange to lieat'tlie cabii by 'the heat contained `in these escaping gases, if it is necessary. As arrangedupon the sides of'the cabin these escape pipes add somewhat to the heat of the cabin.

In Figure 2 I have illustrated a slightly different method of 'control of the pressure of the air in the cabin. In this instance l ti'olled device 29 similar to the device 16r in Figure 1, but in tliis\instance adapted to control the motor 28 by means of a rheostat 30 in an obvious manner. The device 29 is linked to the vmovable arm 31 of the rheostat .and either increases or decreases .the resistanceof the circuit in which the motor is arranged in accordance with the pressure in` the cabin. 'As `a measure of safety I provide a storage battery. 32 in circuit with the motor andgenerator in accordance with the common use of a storage battery in the electrical circuits on automobiles.

In Figure 3 I have illustrated another'- slightmodifcation of my invention.v In vthis instance I eliminate the pump for forcing the air into the cabin and depend entirelyupon the forceI with which the air is driven into the cabin by the rapid moa/ement of the machine through the air. In this form I provide a relatively large inlet 33, immediately at the forward edge of the roof of the cabin.Y The opening 33 has an overhan ing roof .34 and is situated immediately a ove the upwardwslopin'g forward wall 35 of the cabin by which the air is driven with great force into the opening 33. As in the former instance Iv prefer to distribute the air over the per part of the cabin through a pluralit of) relatively small holes 14 in the ceiling o the cabin provided for this purpose. In this instance I have indicated a generator 25 bywhich the blower for the steam generator can be suitably driven. As in the former instance, the 'blower 19 draws its air from the constant pressure cabin and delivers it to the burners 5. In this case I have shown means 'for controlling the .pressure in the cabin consisting of a valve 15 and controlling device 16 similar to that described in relation to 'Figure 1.

In Fi re 3 I have shown the cabin as part of a bip ane having an upper plane 36 and a lower plane 37. .The fragmentary arms or links 38 in the several drawings represent suitable framework connections for the supporting wheels, upon which such machines are mounted for starting and landing.

I claim:

1. In' a machine ofthe kind described, a substantially closed cabin, a conduit having an open end into which air is adapted to be forced by the movement of the machine through the air, a pump adapted to receive said air and force it into the cabin at a higher pressure and means controlling the premura in the cabin.

2. In a machine of the kind described, a substantially closed cabin, a conduit having an open end into which air is adapted to be forced by movement/of the machine through the air, a )ump adapted to receive said air.

and force it into the cabin at a higher pressure, means for controlling the pressure of the atmosphere in the cabin and a pump for drawing the air-from the cabin and forcing it to the power plant for combustion pur-v SES. p03. In a -flying machine a substantially closed cabin, means for forcing air into the cabin to maintain `the pressure therein at a suitable point for respiration, a power plant including a combustion chamber for the machine, and means for drawing the air from the cabin and forcing it to the power plant for combustion purposes.

4. In a flying machine, a substantially closed cabin, a pump for forcing air into the cabin to maintain the pressure'therein at a suitable point for respiration, a power plant, includin an internal 'combustion engine for the mac ine, and a pump for drawing air from the cabin and forcing it to the power plant for combustion purposes.

5. In an air craft, a source of power, a iiuid com ressor actuated by the source of power, a uid` chamber capable of sustaining life, a combustion chamber, the combustion chamber adapted to receive the uid compressed by the compressor through the iiuid chamber,l and a pressure increasing means between the two chambers.

6. In an air craft, a power unit, a Huid compressor, a fluid reservoir adapted to be occupied by humans, a combustion chamber for the power unit, the combustion chamber adapted to receive fluid from the Huid compressor through the iuid reservoir and means for forcing the uid from the reservoir to the 'combustion chamber.

7. In an air-craft, a source of power therefor, a combustion chamber for the source of power, a closed atmospheric chamber on the craft, means for maintaining the pressure in said closed chamber at a desired point, means for automatically controlling the pressure in said chamber, a combustion chamber, for the source of power, a conduit connecting the two chambers and a superplarger interposed Jbetween the ytwo chamrs. 3. In an air craft, a source of power requiring Oxy) en, a closed chamber on the air craft capa e of sustaining human life, a

' pump for compressing the gases in which the craft is operating into said chamber to a desired pressure, a combustion chamber for the source of power and means for forcing iuid from the closed chamber to the combustion chamber.

9. The combination with a living compariment of an air craft capable of being made air tight, of mechanism for compressing cxternal air and introducing it into said compartment including a part exposed within the latter 'effected b changes of air pressure therein to automatically control the operation of such mechanism, and an escape valve in the wall of such compartment.

v10. Iii an air craft, a steam ower unit having a combustion chamber, ac osed chamber for the operator, means for maintaining a suitable air pressure in the chamber, a conduit connecting the two chambers and a supercharger interposed in said conduit.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 19th da of Jul A. D. 1918.

A WILLI M J. STRONG. 

